Pennsylvania+Dutch

The Friends of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center, 105 Seminary Street, Pennsburg, invites the public to a free Pennsylvania Dutch Dialect Program on Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 2:30 pm immediately following the Annual Meeting of the Friends group at 2:00 pm.

Details:

SCHWENKFELDER LIBRARY & HERITAGE CENTER 105 Seminary Street, Pennsburg, PA 18073 Phone 215 679-3103 Fax 215 679-8175 info@schwenkfelder.com www.schwenkfelder.com

March 9, 2010 Contact: David W. Luz FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 215-679-3103, Phone 215-679-8175, fax

PA Dutch Dialect Program Sunday Afternoon March 21

Pennsburg, PA ---

The Friends of the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center, 105 Seminary Street, Pennsburg, invites the public to a free Pennsylvania Dutch Dialect Program on Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 2:30 pm immediately following the Annual Meeting of the Friends group at 2:00 pm. The moderator for the afternoon program is Ron Treichler and readers of Der Busch Knibbel selections include Betty Krauss, Barbara Heist, Howard Shelly, and Eugene Miller. The presentation will be held in the Heritage Center Library Reading Room.

Longtime readers of the local weekly paper Town and Country most likely recall the Pennsylvania Dutch column called DER BUSCH KNIBBEL. During the seventeen years this column was published, the author's identity remained somewhat of a mystery. Not until after his death in 1966 was it generally known that Rev. William Rupp-at one time a minister at Great Swamp Church, Spinnerstown-was the author who wrote under the pen name DER BUSCH KNIBBEL.

William Rupp was born on a farm in 1911. While he was growing up, he heard the tales older people told each other during their everyday conversations. He later recalled their stories and antics in his weekly columns. Some of his entertaining accounts will be presented during a program at the Schwenkfelder Library & Heritage Center. To get you warmed up for the event, here's a sample of what you can expect: "En 'politician' wor drous om shtimma tzomma shoffa. Er is tzu ma bower kumma os drous in da misht-ben wor. Leit sin no bei kumma fer des ding sehna un der bower hut da leit gsawt der 'polician' daed now en 'campaign speech' macha grawd beim misht-houfa. Wie er der 'politician' bekonnt gemacht hut khotta, greischt ainer ous da drupp leit un hut gewunnert well os der misht-houfa wear!"

Get your funny bone tickled listening to more Busch Knibbel yarns on the first day of spring, March 21, 2010, at 2:30 pm in the afternoon, following the Friends Annual Meeting at 2:00 pm.

The Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center was founded in 1884 as an informal collection in a private home to assure the preservation of the Schwenkfelders' cultural identity. Today the Heritage Center, a not-for-profit organization, is still preserving, interpreting, and documenting the history of this German Protestant group along with the history of the Upper Perkiomen Valley. The Schwenkfelder Library and Heritage Center is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm; Thursdays 9:00 am to 8:00 pm; Saturdays 10:00 am to 3:00 pm; and Sundays 1:00 to 4:00 pm. The Heritage Center is closed to the public on Mondays. For additional information call 215-679-3103 or visit our website www.schwenkfelder.com